Stephen Harper's Conservatives reverse 'softening' of military's name

OTTAWA – Having already re-inserted “royal” into the names of the Canadian air force and navy, the Harper government is making another change to Canada’s military identity.

It is now quietly working to remind Canadians that their soldiers carry guns by doing away with the Chretien-era “Canadian Forces” to describe the military, and instead returning to former moniker “Canadian Armed Forces.”

Unlike the great fanfare that accompanied the Harper government’s decision to reinstate the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Canadian Air Force, this most recent change is much more subtle.

But analysts say it is notable as part of a continuing trend of various Canadian governments rebranding the military in images more to their liking.

“I’m guessing the government wants to re-establish the image that the Canadian Forces is not Boy Scouts, as (former prime minister Jean) Chretien called them,” said Douglas Bland, a retired lieutenant-colonel and now chair of defence management studies at Queen’s University.

A spokeswoman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the terms Canadian Forces and Canadian Armed Forces are interchangeable, according to the National Defence Act.

But Paloma Aguilar confirmed Canadian Armed Forces “is now being used consistently by the prime minister and Minister MacKay.”

Our military is an armed military.

“Of the two, we think the Canadian Armed Forces is more appropriate,” she said in an email. “Our military is an armed military.”

Bland said Canadian Armed Forces was the definitive name of Canada’s military after the navy, army and air force were “unified” into one common force in 1968.

But the Chretien government quietly removed “armed” from the name as it was instigating deep budget cuts in the 1990s, he said, because it was keen on “softening” the military’s image — which helped “deflect any criticism about not buying military equipment.”

“Almost without notice it was changed by the Chretien government to the Canadian Forces,” said Bland, who at the time opposed the decision. “Changing it was a political move.”

While Bland believed the Harper government’s decision to change the name back is also politically motivated, he nonetheless approved because “it does, in our small circle within the armed forces and those who are around it, give a sense of what we’re actually about.”

It’s not the first time the Harper government has pushed the rewind button when it comes to naming the Canadian military; in August 2011, the Harper government reinstated to the “royal” designation to the names of the Canadian navy and air force after they were abolished in 1968.

The move was praised as a salute to the country’s history, but also decried as a throwback to colonial times as well as part of an attempt by the Harper government to tie the military and other national institutions and images to the Conservative brand.

Perhaps ironically, the change back to Canadian Armed Forces comes as the Defence Department faces billions of dollars in budget cuts, which has prompted concerns from some military commanders about the impact on training, reserve units and long-term planning.